Four Gymnasts Compete In NCAA Regional Championships

Apr 08, 2006

April 8, 2006

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -
Four Bulldogs competed in the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Northeast Regional Championships today at the University of Michigan's Crisler Arena. In the all-around competition, Kimberley So placed 10th and Alina Liao finished 15th. Lauren Tatsuno competed in the balance beam, and Miki Seltzer competed in the floor exercise and the vault.

Head Coach Barbara Tonry was very pleased with the performances from the Yale gymnasts.

"They all really did an exceptional job," she said. "They weren't intimidated at all. When you're following six full-scholarship team members in an event, you could fall apart. But they didn't--they did Yale proud."

Tonry remarked that So's score of 38.375 in the all-around was one of her highest of the year. So also scored an impressive 9.650 in the balance beam. Liao's 37.575-point performance in the all-around included a 9.75 on balance beam and 9.70 in the floor exercise.

Tatsuno scored a 9.70 on the beam to finish in the top 15 in the event, and Seltzer's 9.735 in the vault netted her a top 10 in that event. Seltzer also scored a 9.650 in the floor exercise to finish in the top 15 in that event.

Though Yale had struggled at times with the balance beam earlier in the year, Tonry noted a marked improvement in the meet tonight.

"The Utah gymnasts were scoring 9.7's and 9.8's," she said. "And [So] gets up and scores a 9.65 right after that--I was really pleased with the beam. We really improved on our ECAC performance. You could just see a lot more confidence in all of them."

Tonry stated that she was particularly pleased with the team's performance under the greater pressure that comes with an event like this.

"[The girls were] mature beyond their years," she said. "They didn't understand how happy I was seeing them stand up under pressure. They were just doing their jobs."